easyjet commands for new entrants
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Join Date: Dec 2002
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easyjet commands for new entrants
It would be nice if some of the ez guys could answer the following.
How long does it take at the moment for a new comer, to get to start a command course ?
Of course taking for granted that the F/O is standard and suitable for the aim.
Many thanks in advance and very nice flights to you all.
Cheers.
How long does it take at the moment for a new comer, to get to start a command course ?
Of course taking for granted that the F/O is standard and suitable for the aim.
Many thanks in advance and very nice flights to you all.
Cheers.
papyjo,
As far as I am aware, easy is still taking direct entry Captains, particularly those with type/rating and experience on either 737 or Airbus 319/20/21.
If joining as an FO, the expantion, whilst it is being slowed a little, is still sufficient that FOs are eligable for consideration for command pretty much as soon as they have the required experience (Basically 3000 "Factored" hours. See the company web-site for an explanation.). The selection process then consists of a series of assesments, interviews and a sim-check.
A friend with considerable experience who joined last December is going through the process now, so you can see doesn't take that long.
Obviously if things got tight, they are only going to promote as positions became available, but right now it's still pretty positive.
What are your types/hours?
As far as I am aware, easy is still taking direct entry Captains, particularly those with type/rating and experience on either 737 or Airbus 319/20/21.
If joining as an FO, the expantion, whilst it is being slowed a little, is still sufficient that FOs are eligable for consideration for command pretty much as soon as they have the required experience (Basically 3000 "Factored" hours. See the company web-site for an explanation.). The selection process then consists of a series of assesments, interviews and a sim-check.
A friend with considerable experience who joined last December is going through the process now, so you can see doesn't take that long.
Obviously if things got tight, they are only going to promote as positions became available, but right now it's still pretty positive.
What are your types/hours?
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The official line from easyJet is that you have to produce 2 'above average' LPC/OPC performances to be selected for command. I am a recent captain at easyJet and despite any rumours you may hear to the contrary, the CTC guys who do the training were pretty good and the line training provided by easyJet was first class. Like every company they are not perfect but my experience is that they are a great outfit to work for and I can really recommend them.
The snag at the moment is that they have effectively stopped recruiting anyone at the moment. They are still holding loads of recruitment days but no one is being offered a job - they are all being put in a 'holding pool' pending a decision on what to do next. In the past they had countless jobs for everyone they took but that is not the case now. The last figure I heard was that they had over-recruited by 170 pilots but I am not a recruiter and cannot confirm that. The basic problem is that although there are stacks of Airbuses coming, they will effectively be used to replace old 737-300s and there is no real expansion going on beyond what has already been stated.
Since the Berlin and Dortmund bases were announced (they are in the process of filling-up these posts from people already in the system), the only bases to come up are Paris and Stansted - both of which are current 737 bases. The general feeling is that there is a pregnant pause in place while the powers at be decide where, if anywhere, to expand next. Eastern Europe looked favourite and easyJet sent out requests for tenders from over 80 airports with a view to starting operations. For whatever reason there has been nothing said publicly about this for some time but nonetheless many command courses are being handed out to 'suitable' candidates.
I am hoping that someone, somewhere has the big picture on the plan but it is certainly not being shared with the pilots. From where I sit it seems that the big expansion is at best on hold but maybe someone has more insight than I do. At the moment I would be vary wary of jumping ship from a good company in the hope of an early command. If the expansion stops then there will very quickly be a lot of first class guys/gals with the hours who have worked for easyJet a long time and they will undertandably be demanding the first bite of the cherry. In terms of how the company is doing, it all seems pretty good. Nearly every flight seems to carry 125 pax plus and in many cases a lot more (156 seats on our Airbuses). If you have any further queries just e-mail me.
The snag at the moment is that they have effectively stopped recruiting anyone at the moment. They are still holding loads of recruitment days but no one is being offered a job - they are all being put in a 'holding pool' pending a decision on what to do next. In the past they had countless jobs for everyone they took but that is not the case now. The last figure I heard was that they had over-recruited by 170 pilots but I am not a recruiter and cannot confirm that. The basic problem is that although there are stacks of Airbuses coming, they will effectively be used to replace old 737-300s and there is no real expansion going on beyond what has already been stated.
Since the Berlin and Dortmund bases were announced (they are in the process of filling-up these posts from people already in the system), the only bases to come up are Paris and Stansted - both of which are current 737 bases. The general feeling is that there is a pregnant pause in place while the powers at be decide where, if anywhere, to expand next. Eastern Europe looked favourite and easyJet sent out requests for tenders from over 80 airports with a view to starting operations. For whatever reason there has been nothing said publicly about this for some time but nonetheless many command courses are being handed out to 'suitable' candidates.
I am hoping that someone, somewhere has the big picture on the plan but it is certainly not being shared with the pilots. From where I sit it seems that the big expansion is at best on hold but maybe someone has more insight than I do. At the moment I would be vary wary of jumping ship from a good company in the hope of an early command. If the expansion stops then there will very quickly be a lot of first class guys/gals with the hours who have worked for easyJet a long time and they will undertandably be demanding the first bite of the cherry. In terms of how the company is doing, it all seems pretty good. Nearly every flight seems to carry 125 pax plus and in many cases a lot more (156 seats on our Airbuses). If you have any further queries just e-mail me.
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Thank you so much gentlemen for all that relevant information, this is very kind of both of you.
It feels really good to see that there are still real aviators, allways willing to help or inform their collegues.
Concerning my experience, I am 33 years old and I have 3400 hrs total, of which 3000 hrs jet (1000hrs on the A321) and a full unfrozen JAA ATPL(french).
In my present company, I am at least 2 years far from a command, due to seniority and management pupils.
The main reason why I would love to see greener pastures, is that in fact the airline I work for, segregates us ex Air Liberté pilots (5 out of 60).
For those who do not know, Air Liberté was the second french airline, it went bust by late 2002.
You can then easily imagine that no bright future is expecting me there.
Again many thanks to both of you and very nice flights to all the pprune people.
Cheers.
It feels really good to see that there are still real aviators, allways willing to help or inform their collegues.
Concerning my experience, I am 33 years old and I have 3400 hrs total, of which 3000 hrs jet (1000hrs on the A321) and a full unfrozen JAA ATPL(french).
In my present company, I am at least 2 years far from a command, due to seniority and management pupils.
The main reason why I would love to see greener pastures, is that in fact the airline I work for, segregates us ex Air Liberté pilots (5 out of 60).
For those who do not know, Air Liberté was the second french airline, it went bust by late 2002.
You can then easily imagine that no bright future is expecting me there.
Again many thanks to both of you and very nice flights to all the pprune people.
Cheers.
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The early commands at EZY are all but gone, we have a lot of qualified guys waiting to upgrade so I reckon as an outsider coming in you'd go to the bottom of the pile, its only fair that F/O's already in house go first.
The Boeings (-300) are being dumped so it looks like all future upgrades from the end of this year could well be on the bus.
Anyway good luck, dont believe all the crap some folks tell you about EZY!, its not that bad.
The Boeings (-300) are being dumped so it looks like all future upgrades from the end of this year could well be on the bus.
Anyway good luck, dont believe all the crap some folks tell you about EZY!, its not that bad.
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It is also worth saying that the guys who are looking for internal promotion at easyJet are understandably miffed at people being taken in from outside. I alluded previously to the fact that they are still promoting internally - the word is that there are still not sufficient 'suitable' candidates internally to cover their expansion if it kicks off again. Hence I know from the recruiters that they are still taking direct-entry captains (current Airbus captains only) but at the moment they are only going to a holding pool as discussed previously.
The other thing I heard which is very interesting is that they are looking at non-type rated FOs (mainly turboprop) for some reason. Basically these guys effectively pay for their own type rating by going through the TRSS scheme. You basically get a period of time (5 years?) on reduced salary to pay for the rating and from easyJet's perspective it is very cost effective.
The other thing I heard which is very interesting is that they are looking at non-type rated FOs (mainly turboprop) for some reason. Basically these guys effectively pay for their own type rating by going through the TRSS scheme. You basically get a period of time (5 years?) on reduced salary to pay for the rating and from easyJet's perspective it is very cost effective.
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A very ominous item has just appeared on the company intranet quoting Ray Webster (the CEO). The gist of it is that there is a meeting next Thursday at Luton for all the staff who wish to go and hear about the 'new business plan'. It also says that there are to be 'no compulsory redundancies for at least a year'. I have no idea what is going on but it certainly seems to confirm the warnings about less expansion given earlier.
In reality, I think this has actually just been badly handled - the redundancies are on a very small scale (approx 20 out of 500 mainly in management and admin). There will still be some expansion but the fine details are not yet known until later this year. The shame is that instead of emphasising the new routes out of Gatwick which are great news, the emphasis was put by some foolish individual on these very small number of redundancies. Unnecessary upset has been caused to the workforce when in fact the news overall is actually very good. There are a lot of airlines in the UK right now who would love to have the sort of profits easyJet are making!
In reality, I think this has actually just been badly handled - the redundancies are on a very small scale (approx 20 out of 500 mainly in management and admin). There will still be some expansion but the fine details are not yet known until later this year. The shame is that instead of emphasising the new routes out of Gatwick which are great news, the emphasis was put by some foolish individual on these very small number of redundancies. Unnecessary upset has been caused to the workforce when in fact the news overall is actually very good. There are a lot of airlines in the UK right now who would love to have the sort of profits easyJet are making!
Last edited by Norman Stanley Fletcher; 29th Sep 2004 at 10:00.
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From easyjet website:
Update on capacity growth review
easyJet's fleet today consists of 93 aircraft. While the capacity growth review is ongoing, easyJet is currently planning to increase the number of aircraft in its fleet by approximately 16% in 2005, less than the 24% rise previously planned. Further details will be given when easyJet reports its preliminary results for the 12 months to September 2004 on the 23 November 2004.
I guess this means, that those who have been selected in the last few weeks, have to wait a bit longer until they get hired. Same for command courses.
Update on capacity growth review
easyJet's fleet today consists of 93 aircraft. While the capacity growth review is ongoing, easyJet is currently planning to increase the number of aircraft in its fleet by approximately 16% in 2005, less than the 24% rise previously planned. Further details will be given when easyJet reports its preliminary results for the 12 months to September 2004 on the 23 November 2004.
I guess this means, that those who have been selected in the last few weeks, have to wait a bit longer until they get hired. Same for command courses.
